Six autumns fade, six springs renew their bloom. So vast the void through which their beams descend! Yea, glorious lamps of God, He may have quenched Your ancient flames, and bid eternal night Rest on your spheres; and yet no tidings reach Yet what is this, which to the astonished mind Seems measureless, and which the baffled thought Confounds? A span, a point, in those domains Which the keen eye can traverse. Seven stars Dwell in that brilliant cluster, and the sight Embraces all at once; yet each from each Recedes as far as each of them from earth. And every star from every other burns No less remote. From the profound of heaven, Untravelled even in thought, keen, piercing rays Dart through the void, revealing to the sense Systems and worlds unnumbered. Take the glass And search the skies. The opening skies pour down Upon your gaze thick showers of sparkling fireStars, crowded, thronged, in regions so remote, That their swift beams-the swiftest things that be— Have travelled centuries on their flight to earth. Earth, sun, and nearer constellations, what Are ye, amid this infinite extent And multitude of God's most infinite works! And these are suns!-vast, central, living fires, Lords of dependent systems, kings of worlds That wait as satellites upon their power, And flourish in their smile. And meditate the wonder! Awake, my soul, Blaze round thee, leading forth their countless worlds! Worlds, in whose bosoms living things rejoice, Known but to thee, blessed Father! Thine they are, Like the mean mote that dances in the beam Tell me, ye splendid orbs, as, from your throne, Your sway-what beings fill those bright abodes? Leagued their base bands to tread out light and truth, And death unfeared; while fresh and fadeless youth Open your lips, ye wonderful and fair! May read and understand. The hand of God Bound to the surface of this pigmy globe, And beauty, by the Hand of Power divine LESSON CXXXII. Conclusion of a Discourse in Commemoration of the Lives and Services of John Adams and Thomas Jefferson, delivered in Faneuil Hall, Boston, Aug. 2, 1826.—Webster. THIS lovely land, this glorious liberty, these benign institutions, the dear purchase of our fathers, are ours; ours to enjoy, ours to preserve, ours to transmit. Generations past, and generations to come, hold us responsible for this sacred trust. Our fathers, from behind, admonish us, with their anxious, paternal voices; posterity calls out to us from the bosom of the future; the world turns hither its solicitous eyes;-all, all conjure us to act wisely and faithfully in the relation which we sustain. We can never, indeed, pay the debt which is upon us; but by virtue, by morality, by religion, by the cultivation of every good principle and every good habit, we may hope to enjoy the blessing, through our day, and to leave it unimpaired to our children. Let us feel deeply how much, of what we are and of what we possess, we owe to this liberty, and these institutions of government. Nature has, indeed, given us a soil which yields bounteously to the hands of industry; the mighty and fruitful ocean is before us, and the skies over our heads shed health and vigor. But what are lands, and seas, and skies, to civilized man, without society, without knowledge, without morals, without religious culture? and how can these be enjoyed, in all their extent, and all their excellence, but under the protection of wise institutions and a free govern ment? There is not one of us, there is not one of us here present, who does not, at this moment, and at every moment, expe rience, in his own condition, and in the condition of those most near and dear to him, the influence and the benefits of this liberty, and these institutions. Let us, then, acknowledge the blessing; let us feel it deeply and powerfully; let us cherish a strong affection for it, and resolve to maintain and perpetuate it. The blood of our fathers,-let it not have been shed in vain; the great hope of posterity,-let it not be blasted. The striking attitude, too, in which we stand to the world around us, cannot be altogether omitted here. Neither individuals nor nations can perform their part well, until they understand and feel its importance, and comprehend and justly appreciate all the duties belonging to it. It is not to inflate national vanity, nor to swell a light and empty feeling of self-importance; but it is that we may judge justly of our situation, and of our own duties, that I earnestly urge this consideration of our position, and our character, among the nations of the earth. It cannot be denied, but by those who would dispute against the sun, that with America, and in America, a new era commences in human affairs. This era is distinguished by free representative governments, by entire religious liberty, by improved systems of national intercourse, by a newly awakened and an unconquerable spirit of free inquiry, and by a diffusion of knowledge through the community, such as has been before altogether unknown and unheard of. America, America, our country, our own dear and native land, is inseparably connected, fast bound up, in fortune and by fate, with these great interests. If they fall, we fall with them; if they stand, it will be because we have upholden them. Let us contémplate, then, this connexion, which binds the prosperity of others to our own; and let us manfully discharge all the duties which it imposes. If we cherish the virtues and the principles of our fathers, Heaven will assist us to carry on the work of human liberty and human happiness. Auspicious omens cheer us. Great examples are before us. Our own firmament now shines brightly upon our path. WASHINGTON is in the clear upper sky. These other stars have now joined the American constellation; they circle round their centre, and the heavens beam with new light. Beneath this illumination, let us walk the course of life, and, at its close, devoutly commend our beloved country, the common parent of us all, to the Divine Benignity. LESSON CXXXIII. Education a Life-Business.-FRANCIS. WHEN young men, and especially young ladies, have completed their course of instruction at the schools, how often do we hear it said, that they have finished their education! And it would really seem, as if this expression were understood to be literally and exactly true. But it is a great error. The whole process, if it has been well and wisely conducted, has only served to enable the young to go on with |